This past year, RAFT members Consuelo Montoya and Carol Muhn took RAFT kits to Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon for the more than 280,000 school-age refugee children not able to attend school.


As Carol Muhn recounts, “We taught the teachers at Beyond Association’s Child Labor Protection Center in the Bekaa Valley how to put together the kits. The teachers then took the kits to their classes to share with the students. Beyond Association believes in teaching students in a hands-on format, so the RAFT kits were a perfect fit for their program.”


Children ravaged by war and displaced from their homes and schools were given an opportunity for a small measure of normalcy and the joy of learning through kits provided by RAFT—kits underwritten by the generous donations of RAFT’s many supporters.


While RAFT is primarily focused on students in the Bay Area, we now know our reach and impact is far more significant. Consuelo and Carol will be returning to Lebanon this year, and they plan to bring as many suitcases as allowed filled with RAFT materials.


Whether in a refugee camp or a school in San Jose, RAFT provides the resources for teachers and students to transcend their circumstances and achieve great things.